by Nicci A. Kilcoyne
August 28, 2010
An easy way to stay organized through the homeschool year is to have master binders for each student and teacher to keep lesson plans and work in order. This way, all lessons and current work completed are in one place and available at a glance. To organize a student binder you will need:
• A 3 ring binder, at least an inch and a half, with a clear view cover
• Computer and printer
• Subject dividers
• Paper
The very first thing to do is to let your student design a cover page for their binder. They can do this on the computer with graphics or clip art. If your student is too young to use the computer, help them, but let them choose the clip art for fun. After printing out their cover, insert it into the clear view slip on the front of the binder. If the binder has a back side clear slip, you can place educational helps, such as the alphabet or multiplication tables, for easy access reference for your student.
Next, organize your lesson plans on an at-a-glance chart for each subject and place them in the binder along with each subject divider. www.donnayoung.org has wonderful printables for this purpose. Now when your student starts his or her school lessons, they have a map to guide them through the course of the day and you have an organized schedule to refer to in order to make sure they are staying on track. As lessons are completed, they can write in the date completed and you have an instant record keeping system as well. For example, in the math section of the binder, you may have a daily lesson planner sheet filled out with the week’s lessons. Monday may be filled in with: Read chapter 2 Introduction to Fractions and complete workbook pages 34-41. When your student has finished all their work they simply enter the date: 9-12-10 and have you sign or check off on their work for the day in that subject.
Other things that you will have stored in each subject will be worksheets and assignments for each week. After the week is over, you simply remove the completed work and replace it with the coming week’s assignments. Store completed work in a file or portfolio, or even a digital copy, for records. Any additional paper and study helps could be stored in their binder as long as it is helpful for current work.
The nice thing about master binders is that it helps you and the student to think ahead and stay focused on goals throughout the year. Some families choose to only do a week’s worth of lesson outlines at a time, while others will have their whole school year planned out right away. This is entirely up to you and your student to plan out together to see which works best for you. A great way to do it is to mimic the time frames of an actual school semester (usually about 9-14 weeks or so) this way if you are keeping credit hours for a high school aged student, you can easily adapt these into transcripts for college.
Lastly, including a calendar, binder dictionary and educational helps are also good things to keep in the binders. Book lists, library lists and frequently used websites could also be kept inside as well for quick reference. The point is to help make studying and homework as efficient as possible.
The concept is exactly the same for a Teacher’s Master binder, think about what information you will need at a glance as the teacher. A calendar is usually a must, a separate section for each child and maybe current tests and solutions for each of their subjects if necessary. Master vocabulary lists, attendance records- if required by your state, copies of library book lists, and daily or weekly evaluation sheets for you to jot down insights about how things are going and where you may need to make improvements. Teaching concepts that you are responsible for if your child is not self-directed and needs you as the primary facilitator for education can also be placed in here for current work. You too will also remove things and replace things as needed on a weekly basis to stay current and organized along with your child.
Again, the goal of these binders is to do a little extra planning before school starts so that you will have more peace of mind afterwards and a much greater efficiency in getting the job done! Other bonuses include goal setting and goal accomplishing, time management skills and an instant record keeping system. These are valuable skills needed by everyone in life who wants to be productive whether in school, home or career. Teach your children now, and set them up for success later!
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